


How to Age Gracefully?

by barelydwarven



Series: Good Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: "You are so cute!", Good Things Happen Bingo, Other, chargestep - Freeform, nb!Sidestep, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 14:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barelydwarven/pseuds/barelydwarven
Summary: Ortega is a vain man who probably buys all the beauty products they advertise on TV.Prompt 1/25 of the Good Things Happen Bingo. Music: MIKA's earlier albums, very nice.





	How to Age Gracefully?

Hair smelling of shampoo and expensive conditioners, he steps through the doors with practiced ease, flashing a bright smile at the secretary. Beryl, as usual, perks up, answering in a honey sweet tone only to hide her face in one fluid sweep of her papers.

He straightens his back even more - got to keep this up, he thinks. Walking through the halls in his crisp trousers and designer silk shirt, he keeps looking at his reflection or more precisely, for an errant gray hair the stylist might've missed. Is that a...?

"Good morning, Ortega!" Ricardo casually runs a hand through his raven mane, smoothly shifting his eyes from the office window to the round office worker - can't let others think he's vain now, can he? "Morning, Mitchell! How's your spouse, feeling any better?" Smile, nod, laugh, compliment, goodbye - a perfect performance to increase the adoration. Sometimes, on remarkably fine days, he thinks he can read people better than Lyuba, telepath or not.

Ortega is quite aware he's not the same pretty boy who graced newspaper front pages or even the 30-year-old man who posed half-naked for calendars. It's a fact the rest of the world has so adamantly chosen to ignore. So, he books the hair salon 8 months prior, wakes up stupid early just to jog an extra 6 miles, slathers every wrinkle and nook and cranny with creams named "Springtime youth" or "Firm and Smooth". His pulse quickens each time someone's glance falls on his hair for too long or when he has to throw the garbage out in his sweatpants. He feels a creeping itch at the back of his mind when he is placed next to Herald for photoshoots or when the loose-limbed girl back in the dojo laughs at his effortless flirting.

Without even noticing, he finds himself at the slightly dusty mirror in the kitchen corner, glaring at a wrinkle he swears wasn't there in the morning. A buzzing agitation clouds his mind like a heavy blanket. As he pulls out the Brick, silently groaning and cursing up a storm, the familiar slaps of Adibas sandals approach. A simple "oh no" is all he can think before they drop into the nearest chair. "You're awfully late, old man." Make that a double "oh no".

"Had to stop by a few places, nothing much," he slides casually next to Lyuba, all grace, and no effort. "Why, did you come to see me?" He opens his eyes wide, smirks just a tiny bit, pressing that bastard of a wrinkle into a cheeky expression.

"Yup." As Ortega puzzles over what to make of that answer, Lyuba nonchalantly leans towards him, squinting real hard at his hair. As he's about to crack a joke, they break into a wide, ridiculous smile.

"Ricardo, you have gray in your mane!" Oh, mierda. Tiny alarms prickle in his mind, thoughts racing from one brain cell to another in a humming panic. Engulfed in an endless loop of "oh noes", he doesn't notice a scarred hand reaching over the table until Lyuba's tousling his hair softly.

"You are so cute..." Ricardo looks up, stunned, only to see bottomless eyes staring earnestly at him in pure wonder. I might skip the stylist next week, he thinks.


End file.
